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Gabriel-Alphonse Philippe de Choiseul
Gabriel-Alphonse Philippe de Choiseul '''(born 28th January 1739) is a Grandelumierian nobleman and courtier, holding the title of Marquis de Francières. Noted for his homosexual liaisons and libertine stances, Philippe was noted to be easy on the eyes yet as dim as a basket. A weak personality, Philippe was influenced by most of those around him and feared the presence of his father, the Duc de Choiseul. Born in 1739 at the Chateau d'Argenteuil, he was born the third son of the then Duc de Richelieu. Mostly unimportant and unloved by his family, he was forced to seek it elsewhere. Biography '''Birth Gabriel-Alphonse Philippe de Choiseul was born on the 28th of January 1739 at the Chateau d'Argenteuil to the Duc and Duchesse de Richelieu. His birth was relatively unimportant, as the third son and fifth child of the Duc and Duchesse, it was barely attended. It was not even attended by his father or his grandfather, Louis-Philippe Henri and Charles-Nicolas Matthieu respectively. Early Years From an early age, it was apparent that Philippe was different from his elder brothers, as was often remarked by his father. After being given the original title of Chevalier de Richelieu, he was left with nursemaids and practically forgotten about after the fact. The young boy, according to the staff there to teach him, learnt unbearably slowly. He could barely read until the age of 6, he could only speak in full sentences by 3 and still he stammered at times, and he could only write properly by 7 and yet it was still messy. This "stupidity" as it was called by his father, would characterise most of the rest of his life from there. He did terribly in most of his subjects, aside from history which he took an interest in. Even there he did not do well, though. It soon became apparent that he was incredibly easily manipulated. Even so, Philippe was not dim in getting his way. Still, his stupidity and manipulated nature often brought him into many troublesome situations. For example, when he was eight, his younger brother tricked him into jumping into the lake near the Chateau de Choiseul, which he did. Philippe later had to be fished out of the lake by the keeper of the horses. Through all of this, it was always his trusting nature that was taken advantage of. He would constantly be led astray by others who took advantage of this nature, and mislead in many situations, especially by his elder siblings. Though eventually, this mistreatment would characterise his distrust of his family. Adolescence As he grew, he began to change personality-wise. He came to disdain much of his family for the mistreatment he'd suffered. There, he simply mostly left them and mingled around other circles in Grandelumiere, and came to meet new friends. It was after this exploration that it started to become evident of Philippe's different persuasions. He made close friends with other young men, and these would soon blossom into liaisons. Here, Philippe would finally find the affection and friendliness that he'd been looking for his entire life. His affairs, although they would've been looked down on by many, made him happy. Given his trusting nature, though, these liaisons would often turn into controlling or abusive relationships on the sides of his partners and even then he'd continue to trust their word and nature. He would often have to be persuaded for long amounts of time by friends to call off these relationships. Shortly before the close of his first liaison, with a man named Francois Auguste de Culan, his behaviour was finally brought to his father's attention by a maid at the Chateau de Choiseul. He was brought before his father and given the first of many severe scoldings. This, reportedly, broke Philippe. Never before in his life had he been spoken to so harshly, and it was said that this scolding destroyed his confidence. Though he would later recover from the consequence of this scolding, it wouldn't be the last. Each one, it was said, had a similar affect on Philippe. Even so, he carried on with his affairs. It was said that, in love, Philippe was infatuated with the closest man who was nice to him. Even if he had poor intentions, he believed they were everything he had ever wanted. This was most seen in the Comte de Polignac, who after manipulating the Marquis into trusting him, then attempted to bludgeon him with his own cane. There, the Marquis de Montpipeau would stand up for the helpless Philippe, and though there were few minor brawls, anything major was avoided. Personality and Appearance Trusting, content and dim, Philippe was often called a "broken personality". He possessed no skills with which he could succeed and was often called an airhead, featherbrained or a dimwit. Still, he had an undeniable charm in his mannerisms and his speech which led many to see him as "sweet" or "cute". Still, this served to his advantage as this helped him make many friends. However, Philippe was also easily shaken and disturbed. It was said the slightest negative thing said to him could make him sick. Otherwise, his easily manipulated nature made him easy to mess with for many, and very few actively tried to protect him from such things like those. Philippe was considered by many to be astoundingly handsome. He possessed curled blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and an excellent complexion. Still, it was seen that his dress was often messy. There would often be stray hairs seen from beneath his tricorn and his wig. Strangely, his hair more closely resembled that of his late grandfather, Charles-Nicolas Matthieu de Choiseul, and his eyes were more like his grandmother's, Isabelle Germaine de Blois de Penthievre. He favoured colours such as pinks and light creams and whites in dress, and always wore a tricorn with a plumed feather in it. Sexuality and Liaisons For him, his sexuality caused him many problems within his family. His father, on many occasions, claimed he would disown him for his actions. His elder brothers would look down on him with disgust, and most of his family looked on him with animosity. Even his grandfather, the late Duc de Choiseul, who was quite tender towards his grandchildren, disliked his actions. He himself once said, "I've found a new family in my friends, my acquaintances, my lovers, whatever you wish to call them. My family has never loved me, so why should I respect their wishes? I'd rather enjoy myself while it lasts..". ''His father would never grow to accept his son for whom he was, and this would leave a heavy disdain between father and son, though for Philippe this disdain was more terror of what his father would do. His first lover was a young, handsome man named Francois Auguste de Culan. Although Culan was his first devoted love, he was not Philippe's first overall. Culan was a year Philippe's junior, but still he was the assertive one in the relationship. Still, Philippe was madly in love with him. Culan could, however, never grow to accept that he was the only one that Philippe cared for and became incredibly controlling. Philippe remained oblivious of this, but many of his friends tried desperately to persuade him to break off the relationship with Culan. With much sadness and pressure, he finally did. The day after he broke off the relationship with Culan, he had found out that his father knew of his perversions, which would cause more problems. Another lover was with a less-handsome, but more kind-hearted young man named Louis Edouard de Lesseux. He adored Lesseux, and on meeting him ended up almost completely forgetting about the heartache he'd suffered with Culan. The relationship was the longest lasting of his affairs, lasting devotedly for around eight months, when both Lesseux and Philippe became distracted by other loves. They mutually agreed to break off the relationship, but remained close friends and confidants. After Lesseux, Philippe returned to irregular and not devoted dalliances with court ladies and other young men. Although many of his devoted relationships were indeed with men, Philippe adored the company of women also, leading to the conclusion that he was at least bisexual. His next blossoming relationship came at the Dauphin's ball of January 1758, which Philippe would later call one of the most eventful nights of his life and one of the most bittersweet aftermaths. It began normally, a standard affair, but soon it broke out into orgies, fighting and chaos. He spent most of the night dancing, until like many at the ball his drink was spiked with a mysterious white powder, which would lead to the events that followed. A drunken Philippe spent the rest of the night in the company of other masked men, completely unaware that his father was present at the ball. He spent much of the night with the Marquis de Montpipeau and Comte de Polignac, although he didn't know either of them until close to the end due to the masquerade. He was later tricked into trusting Polignac, where they encountered a group of clergymen and Polignac quickly changed his allegiance. He attempted to bludgeon Philippe and Montpipeau with his cane, to which Philippe ran away and led to conflict between them all. By the end of it, however, Philippe was infatuated with Montpipeau. Then, at the invitation of the Comte de Limoges, he managed to make the acquaintances of the Dauphin and his circle, a large step in his social advancement. '''Disappearance' Philippe disappeared from the Chateau de Rueil at some point in March of 1758, following the death of his father and Montpipeau's ascension as Duc de Mortemart. He was searched for around the area, but no search party found him. The circumstances around his disappearance remain cloudy, but in reality he fled from Rueil, feeling threatened by Mortemart's family and feeling unwanted by him. He left for Paris, where he lived quietly in a modest home, hiding from the world outside. He one day plans to return to those he left. Titles and Styles * '''28th January 1739 - 29th November 1757: '''Sa Seigneurie, Chevalier de Richelieu * '''29th November 1757: '''Sa Seigneurie, le Marquis de Francières Category:18th Century Births Category:House Choiseul Category:Imperial Court Category:Grandelumierian Marquis Category:Grandelumierian Nobility